German 215th Infantry Division

The 215th Infantry Division was a German Wehrmacht infantry division that was active from 26 August 1939 to 9 October 1944. The division was mobilized immediately before World War II broke out, and its personnel was composed mostly of older men (many of them World War I veterans) and reserve troops with limited training. On 19 July 1940, the division attacked the Maginot Line during the Battle of France, proceeding to capture the Pechelbronn oil fields and linking up with the German 257th Infantry Division as it advanced. In 1941, the 215th Division advanced into the Soviet Union during Operation Barbarossa, and the Volkhov Front inflicted heavy losses on the division during the Soviet winter counter-offensive of January 1942. The division then took part in the Seige of Leningrad, and it was forced to retreat through Estonia and Latvia into Courland. After fighting in the initial Courland Pocket defensive battles, the division was relieved and shipped back to West Prussia in Germany. Its remnants surrendered at the Hela Peninsula at the end of the war.